September 27, 2023 - The perfume of aged Bordeaux is on fire with its cedar, tobacco leaf, ash, sea salt, spice, herbs, red cherries, and redder currants. The finish is chewy, chunky, and firm, yet regal as well. Fully mature, if you have a bottle and its well stored, you are in for a treat. Drink from 2023-2030.
September 8, 2021 - The 1955 Château Montrose reveals a typically Montrosian palette, consisting primarily of dense black fruit, augmented by pencil, squid ink, mineral, a touch of mint, and gravel. This is a dramatic, serious wine with glorious volume and tenacity, balancing fresh fruit with wonderful tertiary complexity. 97-98
December 19, 2018 - Mid shoulder bottle. William kelley was spot on on this wine. A few people agreed that this was the best Montrose they have ever tasted. Vibrant, stunning, lively and intriguing. A very sexy and perfumed nose with flowers, tobacco, smoked fruit, and earth. Very complex with layers of stuffing. Silky body with weightless power. Impressive.
February 23, 2017 - From magnum. Intriguing at first with beautiful funk, cardamom and bright savory spice on the nose. But the palate quickly turned to mocha and wet fur.
February 23, 2017 - An epic vertical of Chateau Montrose (Restaurant Daniel): Really distinctive and intense nose. Some volatile compounds made this a very funky wine. Super concentrated raspberry flavors like an Astralis on steroids. Graphite and big saddle leather flavors. Weird but delicious. Montrose vertical 1895-2000
July 15, 2016 - So sad - another one of these that didn't get out of the gate.
July 14, 2016 - The 1955 Montrose is particularly thrilling vintage for lovers of classical claret, with a fragrant and extraordinarily complex bouquet of raspberry, red cherry, cedar, camphor and graphite. On the palate the wine is absolutely singing, with sappy intensity and beautiful focus, with a deep core and long finish. This is a rather more savoury and vertical wine than the ripe, broad 1953; but it’s also more expressive and giving than the austere 1945. Just an immensely pleasurable example of this great vintage.
June 24, 2016 - Despite a high shoulder fill, this was madeirized. So dreadfully sad.
May 4, 2014 - From a cold cellar bought on release. Very dark with some browning. Floral, tobacco, dark fruits on the nose. Very good structure and balance. Believe it or not, there are still some tannins that need to be resolved and the wine needs more time. Good fruit. Excellent and should get better. 95
May 3, 2014 - From this cellar, I knew this was going to be too young, and it was. I could've confused this for a '95. Still tannic, which gives it a texture like the finest-grained sandpaper - but sandpaper just the same compared to the other, fully mature wines on the table. The fruit still has young, plummy flavors although not much gloss; I left most of it in the glass hoping for some development by the end of the evening, and it did get there, starting to offer more of a fragrance and some more interesting tobacco flavors, but from this cellar still more time was warranted to get this into gear.